How did universal credit go so badly wrong?

This week the government revealed its plan to fix some of the problems associated with the rollout of its flagship welfare policy. But how did universal credit end up in such a mess? The Guardian’s social policy editor, Patrick Butler, runs through the troubled history of the biggest reform to benefits since the creation of the welfare state. Plus: Georgina Lawton on who gets to identify as black

The government’s universal credit policy is the biggest shake-up to benefits since the creation of the welfare state in the 1940s. It aims to simplify a sprawling system of different payments into one monthly allowance. But there is a moral mission behind it, too: to show claimants in stark terms that they will always be better off in work than on benefits.

After years of delays, IT problems, funding cuts and political strife, the pressure has been building on the government to address public concerns. Two former prime ministers warned of the potential for social unrest. In response, the chancellor has agreed to inject new funding, but will it be enough?

The Guardian’s social policy editor, Patrick Butler,traces the history of universal credit back to a germ of an idea dismissed as too complicated by Tony Blair’s Labour government, through to its troubled implementation by Iain Duncan Smith, and the budget cuts that caused such outrage.